Key Voices

Major Life Changes

After a lot of thought I’ve come to a difficult decision. I’m going to end my radio show and devote my time and energy to turning the documentary project I had in mind into a book instead. My goal is to have that book written by the end of the year.

Now that I’ve actually made that decision, I have to wonder why I didn’t make it before. After all, what do I know about making a documentary film? Nothing. I am, on the other hand, a writer. So why not put those efforts into something I actually know how to do and do something that doesn’t require raising $50-$100 thousand dollars to get off the ground? It seems pretty obvious to me now.

So what is the book about? It is about the experiences of people who file lawsuits involving separation of church and state. The plaintiffs in those cases are almost invariably greeted by intimidation, harassment and death threats, and in many cases vandalism and serious violence. It’s a pattern that has repeated itself over and over again, all around the country, for the last three quarters of a century (and perhaps even further).

There are so many stories to tell. The most recent, of course, is Jessica Ahlquist, but there are many more: Ellery Schempp, Matt LaClair, Joann Bell, the Dobrich family, Steven Hewett. There is a very dark underbelly to this country that considers violence and intimidation a justified response to any and all threats to Christian hegemony, and it needs to be exposed.

Best of luck on this project, Ed. I’ll be looking forward to buying/reading your book!

http://aussiecomputerguy.blogspot.com.au/ computerguy

Good Luck. I think the book will be a handy tool. It can be used to wack over the head any Christians who insist that Christianity is all about love and superior morals.

grendelsfather

Jesus, Ed! You scared the crap out of me with that title. I thought you were getting married, or going vegetarian, or something even worse. I was greatly relieved to find you were merely converting your project to a dead-tree format. As part owner of tree farm, I heartily approve. Good luck with the writing. And don’t forget the Doe family from Santa Fe, Texas.

http://icarusswims.blogspot.com Anne C. Hanna

Sad to hear it about the radio show, Ed, because I’ve really been enjoying it, but I’ll look forward to the book.

By the by, since there are apparently very few episodes of the radio show remaining, can you see if you can get the download link on the PRR site for the latest episode fixed? Right now it just goes to a bunch of XML gibberish. I’d like to savor all the shows are left. 😀

michaellatiolais

Why not try to crowdsource your documentary project funds? I mean, you already have to interview all of the people. Why not just sit down and video tape the interviews? You will then be able to cut it into both a movie and a book.

dingojack

Whatever happened to John T. Scopes? I’ll be looking forward to finding out (hopefully in a nice shiny digital format*).

Dingo

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* I hear they have these new-fangled digital reader thingies nowadays that make reading easier, and (self) publishing cheaper.

dingojack

michaellatiolais – That’s sounds like a great idea! Then Ed could use direct quotes from the actual people if he decides to go into audiobook format*.

** adapted to English from the Dutch redactie [= all editors working on a particular project/publication/show]

fyreflye

You can only do what you think is possible, so good luck with the book. But from the point of view of effective propaganda a documentary in which you can see and hear from the actual people involved would be much more effective than a book.

StevoR

Good luck and hope it works out well. I’ll certainly be interested in reading your book once its written.

I also second (#25) stoferb’s “By their fruit you shall know them” title idea.

http://ernsthot.blogspot.com/ Ernst Hot

I’ll really miss your radio show, it is without comparison my favourite podcast, but that sounds like a book that needs to be written.

You could always have someone with film experience pick it up and make a documentary of it.

mucklededun

I also look forward to buying & reading your book,

even though I only got a B+ on my Turing test.

kangxi

Ed,

I agree with machintelligence where he/she says “Don’t forget to include a few stories of people who were not harassed and intimidated (assuming you can find any.)”

I’d go a bit further. I strongly suspect, like machintelligence, that counterexamples will be hard to unearth. So if you make a serious attempt at searching them out, and document your search, then an explanation of how & why there are so few counterexamples might make a fitting part of the conclusion to your book.

You know, you could always shop the book around to a documentary director or three to see if any is interested in making one. Then you would be Ed Brayton: Lucrative Movie Deal Guy. (minus the lucrative part)

twincats

Why not try to crowdsource your documentary project funds? I mean, you already have to interview all of the people. Why not just sit down and video tape the interviews? You will then be able to cut it into both a movie and a book.

This is a pretty good idea.

I’m not much of a radio listener, but the idea of a documentary had me salivating a bit. Let us know when we can preorder the book, though.

The plaintiffs sought a protective order shielding their identity because of the animus expressed by the public regarding the case. Liberty Counsel, a Christian legal group affiliated with Liberty University, represented the Giles County School Board and filed a brief opposing the ability of the plaintiffs to use pseudonyms. Urbanski issued a protective order saying in part, “no harassment, threats, intimidation, or interference with the Plaintiffs will be tolerated.”